Apr 14 (TN) The All Ceylon Hindu Congress (ACHC) in its New Year message said that the proposed Joint Mechanism is a must for the effective implementation of a relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction programme in the tsunami +destroyed coastal areas in the northeast province. more..

Apr 14 (TN) Fisheries societies in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district appealed to the Divisional Secretary (DS) that they should be allowed fishing in Chavakachcheri-Kerativu sea twenty four hours a day. Otherwise they Sri Lanka Government should resume the relief that has been suspended by the authorities, more..

Apr 14 (TN) Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Tamil families affected by tsnunami and two decade old war Thursday celebrated another New Year in camps, welfare centres and make-shift structures as their own houses and agricultural lands in the Jaffna district are occupied by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), more..

Apr 14 (PT) Sir - My wife and I have just returned from holiday in Sri Lanka. We booked this before the tsunami devastation, which made us even more determined to visit and support the Sri Lankan economy. more..

Apr 14 (SLBC) The New Year dawned shortly after midnight today spreading cheer and anticipation throughout the country. The people expect the New Year to usher in a period of prosperity and happiness compared to the harrowing experience they faced in the past year. more..

Apr 14 (LBO) The International Monetary Fund has trimmed Sri Lanka's 2005 growth by 0.75 percent, and warned that there was little political will to tackle painful reforms. In its semi-annual World Economic Outlook report released on Wednesday, the IMF expressed anxiety over high oil prices that were here to stay. more..

Apr 14 (LBO) Thousands of Sri Lankans line up to consult the planets during the Sinhala-Tamil New Year season. What with a tsunami – previously unheard of phenomena - killing thousands and eclipses chasing one another throughout 2004, Sri Lankans are nervous about the New Year. more..

Apr 14 (Xinhua) President Chandrika Kumaratunga in a New Year message to the nation has expressed hope for a final settlement to the country's long running separatist armed conflict. Sri Lanka majority Sinhalese community and the minority Tamil community are joining hands across the country on Thursday in celebrating the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. more..

Apr 14 (SAMN) The tsunami tidal waves have badly affected the livestock farming activities in the Southern region. Under this situation 544 buffaloes, 362 cattle, 663 goats, 91 pigs, 20,658 laying hens and 15,972 broilers have died. more..

Apr 14 (DN) The Sinhala and Hindu New Year is the national and cultural festival of the people whose livelihood is based on agricultural pursuits. The Sinhala and Tamil people who follow the calendar of the sun have been celebrating the occasion from ancient times giving pride of place to age old traditions and customs. more..

Apr 14 (LNP) A Muslim man abducted by the LTTE and held in captivity for two and a half months in the Mullaithivu jungles broke free and reached Vavuniya police on Tuesday. Kalin Riyaz, 24, from Veppankulam, Vavuniya told police that his captors confined him to an iron cage with his hands bound with an iron chain during his two and a half months in captivity. more..

Apr 14 (CI) New Zealand's swing bowlers outwitted Sri Lanka's batsmen to wrap up an emphatic series-winning, innings-and-38-run victory at the Basin Reserve. Sri Lanka's hopes of a successful rearguard slowly faded during the fourth day as their middle order melted in the second session. more..

Apr 14 (Gulf) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said that a proposed joint mechanism with Tamil guerrillas to carry out post-tsunami rehabilitation work would be a foundation to find a settlement to the ethnic conflict. more..

Apr 14 (AP) Sri Lankan courts could be forced to issue verdicts in criminal trials within 90 days of the case starting under proposed changes to the country's criminal laws, the state-run Daily News reported Thursday. more..

Apr 14 (AFP) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Thursday it has approved a 197 million-dollar assistance package for two projects that will help rebuild tsunami and conflict-affected areas in Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 14 (UN) Declaring that "no one could possibly be better qualified," Secretary-General Kofi Annan today formally introduced former United States President Bill Clinton as his special envoy to head United Nations operations spurring recovery in the dozen Indian Ocean countries devastated by December's tsunami. more..

Apr 14 (Reuters) At last April's traditional Sri Lankan New Year festival, fisherman Gomes Jayasekera prayed for bigger catches. This year, awaking in a camp for tsunami displaced, he prays to survive. more..

Apr 14 (AFP) Sri Lanka's president called for a deal with Tamil Tiger rebels on distributing aid to tsunami survivors, saying it would set the stage for a final agreement to end a decades-old separatist war. more..

Apr 14 (TN) Sri Lanka's Supreme Court (SC) held last week that the State was responsible for the disappearance of two Tamil youths who were brothers after their arrest by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army fifteen years ago on 6th July, 1990 in Trincomalee, legal sources said. more..

Apr 14 (BBC) Special Court to be set up to cope up increasing number of organised crime in the country. This has been recommended to the government by the special committee of legal experts led by Solicitor General, C.R. de Silva. more..

Apr 14 (SLA) A Tamil trader from the general area of UPPUWELI has been abducted by LTTE on 13 April 2005 around 6.15 p.m. stated a complaint made at the UPPUWELI police by his wife. According to the complainant, the victim N S DAYALAN has been abducted while he was at his residence by 06 LTTE men who came in a van. more..

Apr 14 (SLA) Two incidents of firing by LTTE towards the Security Forces (SF) roadblock in the general area of MAHINDAPURA on 13 April 2005. LTTE men from a hideout in the un-cleared area have first fired approximately 10 – 12 rounds with small arms towards the SF roadblock on 13 April 2005 around 7.00 p.m. more..

Apr 14 (BO) Sri Lankan President Chandrika B Kumaratunga on Wednesday thanked the government and people of Bangladesh for the humanitarian assistances provided to the country during the last devastating tsunami, reports BSS. more..

Apr 15 (TN) Responding to a complaint with the SLMM that LTTE cadres had fired towards the SLA Mahindapura army camp, Mr.S.Elilan, said "Our cadres conducted a clearing operation on receipt of information that armed cadres of an unidentified group had entered from the side of army camp into the no-man zone". more..

Apr 15 (TN) Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition, Thursday visited Tangalle, a town in Sri Lanka's South and met with tsunami-affected people, party sources said. Tangalle is one of the coastal areas destroyed by last year December tsunami. more..

Apr 15 (CT) The atmosphere among Christians in Sri Lanka has remained tense recently as the parliament prepares to vote on the Freedom of Religion Bill. The proposed law contains rules to prevent people from changing their religion, and was formed by Sri Lanka's Minister of Buddhist Affairs, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, more..

Apr 15 (TN) Lack of consensus in Colombo, even in sharing resources to meet a natural disaster, has confounded the already existing humanitarian crisis, Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan told Mr. Conor Lenihan T.D, Minister of State in Ireland with Special Responsibility for Overseas Development & Human Rights. more..

Apr 15 (TN) At least nine were killed in an attack on the camps of a paramilitary group in Sorivil in the Welikanda area, 80 kilometres northwest of Batticaloa Thursday morning, civilians in the area said. "We can neither confirm nor deny the reports of the attack", a senior military officer in the east said. more..

Apr 15 (SLA) Another LTTE attempt to strain the relationship between Security Forces and civil society has failed when two soldiers paid no heed to provocative behaviour of two suspected persons instigated by the LTTE in the general area of PUTHOOR 14 April 2005 around 2.30 p.m. more..

Apr 15 (SLA) Naval troops on patrol had arrested six Sri Lankan refugees, 03 males and 03 females, dropped at the 3rd SAND BANK by an Indian trawler, in the general area of TALAIMANNAR on 14 April 2005 around 1.00 p.m. more..

Apr 15 (SLA) LTTE men have once again continued their firing over roadblock of the Security Forces (SF) at MAHINDAPURA, TRINCOMALEE on 14 April 2005 at 2.30 p.m. for the second consecutive day. LTTE men fired ten rounds of ammunition over the MAHINDAPURA roadblock more..

Apr 15 (SLA) Another round of factional fighting between LTTE PRABAKARAN group and LTTE KARUNA group that erupted in the interior remote area of SORUWILA, WELIKANDA have caused death to five LTTE men and injuries to two LTTE men on Friday (15) morning at about 1.00 a.m. more..

Apr 15 (PIS) Let all of us get together regardless of race, colour, religion or and other political or social affinity and evolve a phoenix rise to rebuild the Nation, said Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse in a message to mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. more..

Apr 15 (WSJ) A Madison engineering company is likely to play a vital role in the reconstruction of tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka. Ray Tierney, principal of BT2 (BT Squared), a civil and environmental engineering company, recently returned from Southeast Asia as one of several representatives more..

Apr 15 (ZN) The Centre today denied there was any objection to the Sethusamudram project by the Sri Lankan government and said work on it would progress according to the plans. "No. There is no objection from the Sri Lankan government. We have said there is no environmental issue involved as it is just dredging work," more..

Apr 15 (CI) March 15, 1995 was a historic day for Sri Lankan cricket – at Napier, they recorded their first overseas Test victory. Chaminda Vaas outdid New Zealand's seam bowlers in conditions which should have ideal for the home team. more..

Apr 15 (SLBC) Commercial Banks say more customers were engaged in financial transactions in the Sinhala and Tamil New Year yesterday than in the previous years. The People Bank says 85 thousand customers have visited its branches to deposit monies in the 15 thousand rupee savings certificates. more..

Apr 15 (SLBC) The Ministry of Rehabilitation says 855 million rupees have been allocated for rehabilitation project for the first quarter of this year. Communication Director of the Ministry Dihan Hettige said that out of that 350 million rupees have been given for the special projects in all districts. more..

Apr 15 (AT) Norwegian peace facilitator Erik Solheim will arrive in Colombo on the 17th for a four-day visit, a Royal Norwegian Embassy press release said. He is expected to discuss with the Sri Lanka Government the establishment of a joint mechanism for the reconstruction of tsunami-damaged areas in the North and East. more..

Apr 15 (AT) In an exclusive interview with ‘Asian Tribune’, United States Congressman Danny K. Davis, who toured Sri Lanka early this month, most of the time spending in LTTE controlled areas and meeting only with officials of the Tiger outfit, more..

Apr 15 (AP) Fighting between rival Tamil Tiger factions in eastern Sri Lanka on Friday left at least four dead, the military said. The Tigers claimed nine were killed, all members of a breakaway guerrilla group. more..

Apr 15 (IPS) The Sinhala and Hindu New Year that fell on Thursday is a season well known for good cheer and festivity. But T A Somawathi, a survivor of the Dec. 26 tsunami that left more than 31,000 Sri Lankans dead and an additional 200,000 still displaced, will have none of that. more..

Apr 15 (AT) Tamil militants have killed at least nine members of a rival group at Vannaturayadi, a village about 90 kilometres west of the eastern town of Batticaloa. Heavily armed cadres of the LTTE had launched a pre-dawn attack yesterday on the makeshift base of the rival group the ENDLF killing nine and causing injuries to several others. more..

Apr 15 (AFP) Sri Lanka's peacebroker Norway announced a fresh bid to salvage the island's faltering efforts to end ethnic bloodshed amid escalating violence in the island's embattled eastern province. more..

Apr 15 (FIFA) The beautiful island of Sri Lanka, lying to the south of India in the heart of the Indian Ocean, was among the countries worst affected when towering waves battered coastlines on 26 December 2004. An estimated 40,000 of its 20 million inhabitants lost their lives and a million were left homeless. more..

Apr 15 (TT) WHEN the vicar of Hampton Hill set off with his wife for Sri Lanka on the first leg of a three-month trip around the world, he was expecting rest and spiritual renewal. But Rev Brian Leathard's sabbatical turned out very differently when the tsunami struck on Boxing Day, just days after he and his wife Ramani arrived in Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 16 (AN) The Sri Lankan Consulate in Salama district in Jeddah will move on Wednesday to a spacious location in Sharafiya district close to its community school. “The new place is strategically located in the heart of town, in the vicinity of the community school, and in proximity to Sri Lankan settlements,” more..

Apr 16 (TN) Divisional Secretary for Thirukkovil, Mr. A. K Thavarajah, was shot dead Friday night around 6.45 p.m. He was riding a motorbike near the Special Task Force camp in Thirukkovil when a gunman opened fire on him, residents said. more..

Apr 16 (TN) Acting magistrate for Polannaruwa visited the place where the Karuna Group/ENDLF camps were attacked in the early hours of Friday morning. She inspected the five bodies, including that of a man identified as 'Vijayan', which were in huts in Vannaanthuraiyadi in the general area of Aralanganwila. more..

Apr 16 (AT) A senior United States Department of State official, on condition of anonymity, disclosed to ‘Asian Tribune’ that the early April visit of Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick’s official tour to Norway coupled with taking up the issue of Sri Lanka’s conflict more..